Ghoul Grounds
by Flek Siner
Summary: A happy ghoul is a full one.
1. Eating

The guy didn't even see it coming. He probably just got off from work; maybe he'd hit a bar or a food stand before stumbling home. He was older, late 40's I'd guess, kind of flabby, and he was wearing a worn business suit. He looked like any other salary man you'd see on the street. He probably had a family that may or may not have been missing him at the time. I'd feel bad for him if I wasn't so hungry.

I hadn't eaten in about a month. I'd moved recently so I hadn't had the chance to grab a bite to eat. I almost cried tears of joy when I saw him walk down an alley. His dumbass move meant I didn't have to get him in a remote area. But I kept my cool; I've got enough sense to notice when something's a little too good to be true. I checked around the street I was to see if anyone else was nearby. Finding that I was safe there I put my back against a rough bricked building and peered into the alley to see the man.

I don't have the best eyesight, so I had to squint a little, but after a few seconds I could tell the guy was just taking a piss on the side of a building. I did a silent "Hell Yes!" to myself and inched slowly into the alley way. The man didn't notice me at first; he was putting all his concentration on aiming his piss away from his shoes. I almost lost it when I stepped on a piece of broken glass, but the man didn't seem to hear it.

I silently stepped behind him. He was a little taller than me; maybe two or three inches. I looked at the back of his head for a few seconds and contemplated how I should go about this. It's not that I doubted that I couldn't kill him; this was more of a "How do I eat this?" kind of situation. I could just chow down right here in the alley, but what if someone walked by. This isn't the most frequented part of town, but you never know. Murphy's Law can be a fickle bitch. I could try and drag him off somewhere, but that, in turn, asked the question "Where could I take it". There was no way I was taking this guy's fat ass all the way back home. Way too far.

These quick thoughts were dashed when I heard the man zip up his pants. I immediately went on the offensive. I snapped his leg with a forceful kick to his outer thigh. He yelped like a startled monkey and before he could fall over I smashed his face into the wall he'd just peed on. I could hear his nose break and the bone grind as I slid his head down to the ground. The only sounds that came out of him were strained gurgling noises. I smashed my foot several times onto the back of his head to silence any screaming that may have been about to start. His head burst like a rotten melon.

As the smell of the gore hit my nose the blurriness in my eyes started to fade. My eyesight is normally quite poor, but it's even worse when I have to hide them as human eyes. It's moments like those I remind myself to by some thick sunglasses. Like the kind blind people wear.

The delectable viscera in front of me affected my other senses as well. More specifically my smell. I took in a big whiff of the mess in front me and got a wonderful surprise. This man's blood type was O negative, which happened to be my favorite. A lot of other ghouls say they don't care about taste or that it all tastes the same, but I know they're lying. We've all got our favorites; they just don't want to be labeled as a "Picky Eater" or a "Gourmet" to use a newer term. I usually don't like to fuss with my food to much either, but if I'm allowed to indulge in a fancy of mine I will.

I think the harsh rumbling in my gut finally made me decide to just eat the man here. My higher brain told me to at least move the corpse into a more secluded area, and I listened to it. I pulled the body behind a large dumpster I hadn't notice earlier and began my feast. In my old home ghoul's tended to share their meals. That was one of the main reasons I left my home ward. Too hard to find a decent meal without some mooch coming around and stealing my hard earned food.

There was a lot of fat on the man. His skin was a tad greasy, but ghoul's have fairly good hearts so I didn't mind. I fact I usually preferred fattier meats opposed to the leaner cuts. I've found that skinnier or fit people don't fill me up nearly as much as a husky person might. I do have to watch myself to not eat any obese folks however. Having a little fat on the meat can be a treat to any meal, but too much and slows you down. And to be honest it can give a rather terrible stomach ache depending on how rotund they were.

I ate without interruption well into the early morning. I was very full when I pulled myself up from the now eviscerated corpse below me. I did my best to not get any blood or bits on my track suit as I ate, and I think only a few flecks of it got on me. It wasn't noticeable by any means so I turned from my finished meal and walked out of the alley back onto the main street.

I'd forgotten how content I felt when I was full. My stomach had a pleasant warmth that was spreading out through my entire body. I small, toothless smile opened on my face as I walked back towards my home. I guess it goes to show that a happy ghoul is a full one.


	2. Knocking

I've only seen another ghoul use their Kagune once. That was my father's; it was also one of the few times I've ever feared for my life. My family had just finished up dinner at a human friend's home and were walking home. It had been a tiring affair that night. I wasn't very good at forcing down human food when I was a child, so I had to pretend to have an upset stomach for most of time there. My parents ducked into a bathroom to purge themselves of the food they had just pretended to enjoy and left me near the entrance.

I heard the man before I saw him. It was a knocking noise coming from a nearby street corner. Turning my head, I saw that it was a man in a white coat rapping a large metal brief case against a metal sign. He was looking directly at me with a strange look on his face. His eyes were darting around and looking all over my body. Like he was looking for something concealed within my clothes.

I decided to not pay any mind to him and just wait for my parents to finish up with their business. I twiddled my thumbs and just stared off into space thinking about nothing for several minutes before my parents came out of the bathroom. Before we set back off home I looked to see if the man was still there. He was nowhere to be seen.

I heard the same knocking sound when we were almost home. I saw the man standing in the middle of the empty sidewalk looking at us with that same searching expression. My mother pulled me closer to her and both her and my dad started to walk faster with me in tow. As we stepped within half a meter of the man he put his hand out.

"G-Good evening sir and madam," he said in a shaky voice. Now that we were closer I could see that the man was sweating bullets. His short black hair was messily stuck to his head and his breath was erratic and labored.

"My name is D-Daisuke Miyamura, and I'm with the CCG. I-I've heard that there have been d-disappearances in the area recently. Would you mind if I asked y-you a few questions?" he continued.

My father motioned my mother and I onto the street to move around him. "I'm sorry sir we're very busy. We have to be getting home now," my father said in his deep voice. The man quickly turned to us and took a few steps toward us into the street. He almost dropped his suit case when he stepped off the side walk

"P-p-please! I-It'd only take just a m-moment!" he was starting to stutter more. My mother, again, pulled me closer; this time going as far as to just burry my head in her stomach. I heard her mumble something excitedly to my father. The only word I could make out from the dialogue was "Dove". I was glad I didn't know what that term meant back then. I feel like a terrified child would have only made that situation more of a nightmare.

I could still hear my father's now rather loud voice from the folds of my mother's wool sweater. "I already told you that we do not have time for this!" I heard my father yell. He was the kind of man that made other people shrink when he yelled. I could almost see the man back up from my father's booming baritone.

"P-Please sir! It's nothing to yell over," the man said in a quieter tone.

"No! My family and I are going home! Please do not follow us!" my father responded. My mother pulled me along into the street and away from the strange man. A loud bang sounded out and we stopped dead in our tracks. I managed to pull myself from my mother's embrace to see the man holding a strange looking object in his hands. It was all black and quite large. It looked to be a hammer or club with three large spikes jutting from the top and bottom of its heavy looking end.

The man pointed the weapon at us and shouted, "S-Stop right there! I-I am an investigator of the CCG and I have been given information linking you to ghoul sightings in the area! I-If you move I will k-k-kill you without hesitation!" I looked at my parents for some kind of solace from the dangerous person in front of us. I could see their eyes had reverted back to their natural black and red state. And that was the moment I knew we were in trouble. For some reason the maniac in front of me only managed to frighten me; while the action of my parents revealing their true nature to a human, something they told me to never do, sent a wave of terror through me like I'd never felt.

In a flash my mother roughly grabbed my waste and threw me over her shoulder like a sack of flower and took off in a sprint away from my dad and the man. The last thing I saw before my mother rounded the nearest corner was a bright red shell exploding from my father's shoulder and him taking a charge towards the man.

When my mother got me home she told me to go into the small alcove under the stairs and not come out until she said so. I was starting to doze off when my father opened the door and took me into a crushing hug. He was bleeding and the cloths he was wearing were torn to shreds. He told me that we were going to have to move away and pack everything I owned.

They didn't tell me that he killed that Dove until I was fifteen. I had figured out that the man was a Dove a while before that, but I had just assumed that my dad just fought him off until he managed to find an opening to escape. It made me proud to know that a member of my family killed one of those monsters.

I honestly had no problem with the Doves for most of my early years. We ghouls hunted their kind and in turn they fought back to protect their species. I found it kind of admirable in the same way a dog might protect its favorite toy. It was when I learned about the Quinque that admiration turned into contempt. There was nothing admirable about turning someone's very being into some kind mocking display to kill others of their kind. Ghouls may hunt and eat humans, but at least we don't wear their innards around like jewelry.


	3. Reading

The meat in my gut was still laying nicely in my stomach when I woke up the morning after my hunt. I had gone to sleep not too long after I had gotten home. I had, had a long day of moving into my new apartment that day, so I was a little tired that night. I had wanted a place of my own since I was in high school, and I think this little place is a good start.

It's nothing fancy. A bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and small living area. It was a lot more than other people my age lived with. My family wasn't rich but they had enough to help me set myself up in a nice little apartment. I'm going to have to find a job soon though; my parents and saved up allowances/gifts could only keep me afloat for so long. But the first thing is first; I need to figure out if someone had claimed the area I'm un and the area I was in last night was someone's territory.

I've never lived in a ward where ghouls had territory. The ward I grew up in and the one I just moved from worked on a more cooperative basis to hunting. We didn't have like a secret society going or anything, but we helped each other out when we could. This ward seems like more like a place with more isolationist types running around claiming street corners and alley ways as their turf, so I have to tread lightly for now. I may have eaten last night, but I couldn't help that. It was an emergency situation.

I took a quick shower and changed out of my pajamas into my normal dark purple track suit. I liked to keep things simple with clothing. I've never really understood the want of wearing clothing out on normal days of the week. Why dress up if you're just going to work or to talk with some friends. The only other thing I like to wear is a wool knit cap to cover my hair. I've been self-conscious of my messy hair since I was young and I figured a way to deter any anxiety is to wear an all concealing hat.

After making sure everything was turned off and the door was locked I began to walk down the stairs of my apartment complex. It had an elevator but I was a tad claustrophobic so I tended to avoid them. I lived on the third floor anyway; taking the stairs wasn't going to kill anybody let alone myself.

When I got to the bottom floor I almost bumped into a neighbor if mine. She was a housewife that lived with her husband and young daughter. She was with her daughter at the time and they looked like they had just been to the grocery store as they were both holding a few plastic bags.

"Excuse me," I said trying to remember the woman's name.

"Oh good afternoon," she said slightly surprised. I wonder if she can tell that I just woke up. "Have you gotten yourself moved in alright?" she asked politely. I had only moved in the other day and had met her when I was moving a few of the last boxes into the apartment. I was a little antsy at the time on account of my hunger, so I hope I didn't put her off somehow with by behavior.

"Yes I have, thank you," I said just as politely, "I still have a few boxes to unpack, but I think I should be done by the end of the day." The woman's daughter tugged on her long sleeved shirt with a frown on her face.

"Mommy, I have to go!" the little girl said with urgency while continuing to pull on her mother's cloths.

"Calm down Hana it'll just be one more minute," she said smiling at her daughter, "Excuse me sir. As you can see I have some business to attend to." She motioned to her daughter and started to walk around me towards the stairs.

"Have a nice day," I called to them as they moved away. I find it amazing how ghouls and humans can be so different and so similar at the same time. We both had family, talked to neighbors, went out with friends, went out for food. Although it was quite different food, so take that with a grain of salt.

I continued my way onto the city street and began to look for signs of ghoul activity. From what I had learned from some family friends, territorial ghouls tended to mark their areas with specialized ghoul markings to show their presence. However some ghouls, usually the more violent ghouls, would purposefully not mark their territory to incite fights with other ghouls just for kicks. I really hopped that I wasn't in one of those kind of territories.

I walked down a few alleys and checked for any kind of graffiti that might link itself to ghoul activity. Ghoul graffiti isn't common, but it's common enough to have become almost another language in of itself. It was made using a ghoul's Kagune to carve out simple lines and curves into the surrounding area. It's not a complicated language and because of its creation method it's very easy to spot.

Walking around the ward for quite a while, I found that it was a very beautiful place. Fall had been kind to the city, turning most of the leaves a golden shade of brownish yellow. The leaves also made a satisfying crunch under my feet as a continued along the streets.

I was in a shopping area now. It was covered in bright lights and signs for various establishments. Nothing but normal shops around; clothing stores, family restaurant, a coffee shop, a tiny book store…. I decided to check the bookstore.

I liked to read. It was all I could do for a while as a kid since my parents didn't own a television or computer until I was in high school. They didn't want me wasting my time I front of their screens. It's not like they were wrong; as soon as we got a television I did watch an awful lot of the thing.

I liked simple stories; ones with a brave hero and a dastardly villain for him or her to defeat. It's not that complicated stories confused me, I just liked stories to get to the point. The more intricate pieces always seemed to go on and on about nothing particular. I just wanted to find out what happened next, not how the color orange made a character feel.

The bookstore was old and had more than a little must attached to its body. There wasn't really any semblance of order on the shelves. Books were left on their sides, turned backwards, left on top of the bookcase, and there was more than a few just lying on the floor. It looked like no one had bothered to clean the place in quite a while.

There was a young woman sitting behind the counter reading a magazine and generally looking bored. I don't even think she noticed another person walked in; they even had a bell. I didn't feel like disturbing her from her massive workload so I just took a few minutes to look at their wares. I flipped through a few books to see if anything caught my eye. Most of the books there were informational texts. How-to books, encyclopedias, and the like.

I wasn't really sure why I was killing time in a book store. I had something important to do, but I don't know. People have told me I get sidetracked easily. I decided to take one last look in the back of the store before ending this little pit stop.

The back shelves of the store were the same disarray as the rest of the store. Another general once over showed that the books were the same too. I was looking over a book on insects when I saw an exit sign above a slightly ajar door. The sunlight was leaking in through the small crack in the door frame. I would have gone back to reading about the extremely interesting Chinese red centipede if not for hearing a loud crunch from the other side of the door.

I considered the age old "Curiosity Killed the Cat" proverb, but my inquiring mind won over in the end. I put the insect book down on the shelf and used my foot to nudge the door open. Forever paranoid, I peaked around the bookcase to see if anyone was looking at me as I pried into someone else's business. I couldn't see anyone nearby, not even the clerk, so I did a quick look through the crack.

What I thought was an alley way was actually a small opening in between four buildings around it. Two men were in the opening. One was on the ground and the other was standing above him. One was lifting a large stone above his head.

One was alive and the other was dead.

A voice came from behind me. It was a high, feminine tone.

"Customers aren't allowed in the back."

I slowly turned my neck around. It was the store clerk. I could see her black sclera surrounding her blood red iris looking at me with contempt.


	4. Shining

The first time I ever used my Kagune was another time I feared for my life. It was soon after moving away from my home ward. I was with my parents at a friend's house. My parents had met them very quickly after moving during a hunting trip. It was an older foreign woman and her daughter. The mother was from Russia, where they still deny the existence of ghouls living there, and her daughter was born in Tokyo.

The mother cut a very intense figure. She was over six feet tall, had a rather large nose, and her human eyes were a piercing, icy blue. She was actually very congenial and kind. She took care of us several times when it was hard for my parents to go out hunting.

Her daughter was the exact opposite; in both appearance and personality. She inherited her Japanese father's looks; she stood only a little taller than me even though she was quiet a lot older than me. Her nose was small and her eyes were a murky brown. But no matter how different she looked from her mother nothing was more jarring than seeing how different her demeanor was.

She had a great combination of abrasive and churlish behavior that could make anyone feel lightheaded at her sheer charm. The only thing that beat her graceful speech was the way she delicately, like a dainty fairy, ate her meals. I can say that in all of my life I have never seen a ghoul eat so violently, so brutishly, in all of my life. I remember her mother making her eat in another, plastic covered, room so she wouldn't get covered in gore.

And what I think made her the most appealing was her pride. She loved to show off. She was very athletic and extremely adept at hand to hand combat. I've seen her do flips and kicks around me at break neck speed. Faster than my mom or dad have ever moved on one of the few hunts they took me on. I'd seen her cut concrete with a well place kick.

She would lord really anything she could think of over me like she was the best thing since sliced bread. If she got a good grade on a test she'd make sure to show it to me. And then she would try and "tutor" me because she was oh so smart. Or maybe she'd get into an athletic mood and try and get me to spar with her. Not really sure you could call beating the tar out of a boy five years younger than you in a musty basement sparing or not, but I wasn't going to be the one to tell her that.

I would do my best to ignore her and just hope she got bored and left me alone. Being pretty could only take a person so far in a conversation, especially if said person has the manners of an enraged chimp.

After I got into high school, an affair I'll speak of later, for some reason got really bent on trying to get out her Kagune. She was a very late bloomer in that regard, but it never seemed to bother her much. She might throw out a comment every once in a while that usually sounded akin to, "When I unleash my Kagune on that hag she won't look down on me anymore!" Usually after an argument with her mother.

But those random outbursts aside she usually didn't talk about her, as of then, nonexistent Kagune. Maybe it was because I had mentioned to my father about trying to form the thing in case of an emergency situation. She must have heard it through the grapevine and taken it as a challenge because the next day all she could talk about was how her Kagune was going to kick the ass of everyone on the street, including but not limited to: Me, my parents, her mother, a guy she dated, a dog she passes on the way to work, and a delivery man that was late once.

She then spent most, if not all, of the next week or so doing whatever she could think of to activate her Kagune. Older, more experienced, ghouls can activate their Kagunes with little to no effort, but popping the proverbial cherry can be challenging. Quite a few ghouls say that it's an extremely painful endeavor that's triggered by intense emotions. Anger and sadness being the most common. Unfortunately she must have heard from someone that a near death experience can also be a good trigger.

Jumping from rooftops, running in traffic, and eventually picking fights became the norm in her daily routine. Meanwhile I had done nothing with trying to unlock my Kagune. My father had told me that I would be able to bring out my Kagune when the time was right, so I dropped it. I tried to tell my friend this, but she'd gotten into one of her moods and wasn't having any of my rational thought getting in her way.

Her demented behavior lasted about two weeks before it came to head. It was a chilling fall day and she hadn't been home in two days. It wasn't unusual for her to be gone for a day or at a friend's house or hunting, but she'd always leave a note. Her mother asked myself and my family to help her look for the stupid girl before she got herself hurt. It didn't help that a Dove had been spotted in the area a few days prior, so everyone involved was on pins and needles.

My father told me to check any places she liked to hang out with her friends while he and my mother checked frequented hunting grounds. Too bad I didn't know where she hung out with her friends. I only talked to her at home when she wasn't out. The only place I knew she went with friends was an all-night convenience store that unsavory types liked to hang around. And that barely counted since all they did was follow delinquents into secluded areas to feed.

I wasn't even sure if I should go there since my parents were checking the local hunting grounds, but that was all I had so I went anyway. It actually wasn't very far away, only about a ten minute walk. The place was, as always, crawling with thugs and douchebags. I felt kind of out of place wearing my track suit. It wasn't that they weren't wearing similar clothing, mine was just clean.

They eyeballed me and a few muttered some expletives, but they didn't bother me otherwise. I walked inside and went by the magazine rack. I picked up what I think was a fashion magazine now that I think about it and began to eyeball the rest of the store. There was a store clerk looking like he would rather be inside of a toilet than working at 3 a.m. selling instant noodles to drop outs and gang members.

I put the magazine down after a few minutes; she wasn't there. If she was in there she was hiding inside one of those soft drink dispensers in the back. I walked out of the store and turned down its left side to the back of the building. The sides of the building were littered with trash and a variety of stains and graffiti. Luckily the derelicts out front hadn't surrounded the rest of the store, so I was thankfully alone.

There wasn't anything but a milk crate and a few empty bottles in the back alley. A chain link fence was blocking off an almost finished construction site. It was an office building I believe. It looked completed, but closer inspection revealed a few unfinished walls and empty windows. I stared at the building for a moment and saw a large piece of metal fly out of one of the finished windows. It made a loud crash and the piece of metal embedded itself into another nearby office building. I could hear the punks out front scatter into the streets.

Well if that wasn't a sign I didn't know what was. I quickly climbed over the fence and ran into the building. It was almost pitch black inside the unfinished project, so I let my eyes exit their human disguise. The dark rooms became a little more bearable after that. I heard another crash soon after and ran up a flight of stairs. A few of the flights were unfinished so I had to use my extremely poor free running skills to fall and then climb back up the stairs.

Another crash sounded when I got to the top of the building. I could see my friend and another person. I could see two sets of Kakugans so the person was a ghoul as well. My friend was the person who was apparently throwing large objects about the place. A banding saw was smashed against a wall when I took a few steps into the room. The other ghoul was seemingly stopping the thrown objects in midair and lobbing them the other way with an unknown force.

As far as I knew ghouls didn't possess telekinesis, so I went with a more rational explanation. A Kagune. More specifically a Rinkaku cell type Kagune. I couldn't see the scaly tendrils waving around the other ghoul's form, so he must have been holding them low. They didn't notice me enter their battleground. I hugged a wall and inched my way towards my friend.

I got her attention right before she threw a power drill at the other attacker.

"What're yo-!?" I covered mouth before she could continue. I didn't want that Rinkaku type to notice me. I knew those guys could really tear someone up if you didn't take them out quickly. I tugged her sleeve and pointed towards one of the open windows. Another, smaller, building was nearby and a quick jump would solve this problem.

She shook her head at me and prepared the power drill for a fast ball throw. I grabbed the drill from her and pulled her close.

"We need to leave. This guy is rip you to shreds," I whispered to her, trying pull her away.

"I'm not gonna let this asshole get away!" she spoke in a louder voice. The other ghoul probably heard her. I hoped the other ghoul was hearing impaired.

She continued, "I'm not letting this guy take my spot. I worked for this spot. I don't care if he's some kind of freak or anything. He's not taking my food!"

"Wait…freak?" I asked confused.

"This douche is apparently "The Gator of the 11th Ward". He's supposed to have killed like four doves and a whole bunch of really strong ghouls. It's probably a load of shit anyway."

Speechless, I angled my head towards the other ghoul. Peering through the shadowed room I saw the other ghoul was starting to walk toward the both of us. I noticed he was wearing a sharply angled mask covered in little spines. His Kakugan was visible through the mask; his eyes darted around looking for my friend or maybe me.

I turned back to my friend. "We need to go now. I don't care if he isn't as strong as everyone else. He has a Kagune and we don't. I know you think you're stronger than that, but you're not. You will die," I spoke faster than I ever had. My friend didn't respond. She was looking at the floor, shaking with rage. I'd only ever called her on her bravado once before and she'd done this same thing.

"You can beat me up later! Move!" at this point I'd given up trying to be sneaky. I pushed her towards the window near us and took a look over my shoulder. "The Gator" had seen me. He was looking right at me. I quickly focused on getting my friend out of the building. She wasn't giving me the dead weight treatment, but she wasn't making this easy. I got her up onto the window sill spoke again.

"When you land, run straight home. I'll be right behind you," she didn't look at me, "Don't sulk at me, just run."

She didn't respond and jumped from the window sill. A second later my foot was up on the opening and I was about to jump. I felt a scaly tendril wrap around my ankle. Before I could even yelp I was flying through the air in the opposite direction. I slammed against the wall with a loud crack. The wind had been knocked out of me.

Before my eyes could readjust I was in the air again. This time I was slammed into the ground from the ceiling of the room. I could taste blood in my mouth. The tendril unwrapped itself from my ankle.

The Gator's reptilian mask appeared over my head. A raspy voice came from his unseen mouth.

"You're her friend, huh? Not surprised someone came to help her," his voice sounded older. He was probably at least thirty years old. "Is she always like this?" he asked. "Because I was just trying to get a bite to eat and this crazy chick comes up to me and starts bitching about hunting in her territory. I didn't know this little dive was a territory. Shit, there wasn't even a marking. Bitch was talking out her ass," he rambled.

For a guy who was trying to kill me and my friend, he was awfully congenial. I darted my eyes around to see if there was any escape from my position. He picked me up again, this time with his hands, before I could compile my thoughts.

"I'm gonna kill you now, by the way. Your friend too. Can't have you or her spreading my name around these parts. I'm just traveling, trying to keep a low profile," as he spoke as his hand began to squeeze on my throat.

"I promise I won't eat ya," he said nonplussed by my struggled breathing, "I'm not much into cannibalism. I know that's not a big consolation, but I thought it might be worth knowing."

I could feel my lungs struggling to get any kind of air into my mouth or nose. I started to flail my arms and legs in a primal attempt at survival. The Gator chuckled, but didn't say anything.

I didn't want to die. I was young, I hadn't done anything. Hadn't had the chance to live alone, hunt alone, get a girlfriend, make a family, tell my friend I kind of had a crush on her….

A sharp cry came out from The Gator and he dropped me to the ground. I couldn't really feel anything at the time, but I could hear my track suit ripping. Something was wrapping around my arm. It coiled tightly and thickened itself.

I turned my head and saw a lumpy gray mass forming on my right arm. It stretched down over my hand; small bumps were popping up all over the thing. Because of the oxygen deprivation I didn't realize that this was my Kagune. It looked like my dad's only a little smaller and a different color.

The Gator was looking at me, unmoving. "So you do have a Kagune. I guess this'll be a little harder now, huh. His scaly Kagune resurfaced and struck at my head. I moved m, now encased, arm in front of my face with an unknown speed. I love adrenaline. Good for humans in danger and ghouls and danger.

Two more of tentacles struck out and I managed to dodge over to the right of the room. I charged with my oversized fist rose and swung towards the masked ghoul. He jumped back quickly and flung his Kagune into the ceiling. He swung himself a few meters away from me.

I, again, swung my way towards The Gator. I've never been a very angry guy, but I guess an attempted murder will make anyone snap. My face was twisted in a snarl as I repeatedly punched at the man in front of me. None of them hit, but he was on the retreat.

The Gator drove a tendril into my left, unprotected, arm. It pulled itself away just as quick as it struck and then injected itself into a higher part of the arm. I screamed in agony, but kept swinging. It hurt like nothing else I'd ever felt before, but simple stab wounds wouldn't deter me.

I drove my Kagune into the Gator's face, managing to pull myself forward on the tendril in my arm before it fled, and knocked him on his back. He swept two of his tentacles in the air in front of me, but because he was laying on them he couldn't stretch far enough to hit me.

I jumped on his chest and heard something crack. I spread my feet onto the ground, and his arms, and punched his head onto the concrete floor we were standing on. I heard another crack. I saw a piece of his mask go flying and saw a section of facial hair beneath. I hit again, and again, his mask, and face, cracking and bleeding from the force. He stopped moving after the third or fourth hit.

I was right about the man's age. The face under the mask was that of a man in his early thirties with a thick stubble covering his jaw. His nose and jaw were both broken. I could almost see the dents and fractures in his skull. He was quite dead.

My Kagune receded back into my body soon after The Gator's body stopped twitching. I dropped to the ground and sat in silence for a while next to the fresh corpse next to me. I'd never killed another ghoul before. I'd never even killed a human yet. I felt sick.

I got up after an unknown amount of time. Someone was probably going to be checking on the building soon. Someone would have had to have heard all that noise. I left the building and the street I was on as quickly as my battered body would allow. Stumbling home when the sun was starting to rise wasn't something I was used to. I hoped it wouldn't become a normal thing.

My parents were not at home when I got there, but they soon arrived. I was rushed to my friend's home, her mother had some practice in medicine. I was splinted, wrapped in gauze, and moved into a back room with some monitoring equipment. I guess she had more than a little practice in medicine.

After about a day of rest I was grilled by my parents and my friend's mother. They wanted to know who had attacked us. I didn't lie to them, no reason to, and told them what little I knew. They hadn't heard of The Gator; I guess those stories were a load of shit, at least a little. I had told them about the fight and that he was most likely dead. They didn't admonish me for what I did.

Ghouls fighting wasn't anything new, they were just glad I was okay. I know my friend was put on some serious lock down after the incident. Had a curfew and everything. Which was kind of funny, seeing how she was almost nineteen years old at the time.

I told my friend about my Kagune after everything had calmed down. She was still kind of sulking about the whole thing. She said I shouldn't get cocky and not think I could beat her in fight just because I had a Kagune now. She left in a huff after that.

She's a good girl. Stupid and head strong, but at least she's got some ambition.


	5. Fast Talking

There's an old urban legend that says if you look into a ghoul's eyes for more than a second then you would be frozen in place until they stopped looking at you. While ghouls might not have the ability of a gorgon or a cockatrice, they can still get someone to freeze. A ghoul's Kakugan can be terrifying. Blood red iris, black sclera; veins stretching from the eye sockets looking like thick worms. It's no wonder people would freeze when they saw them. Even an unprepared ghoul, who sees a Kakugan almost every day from a reflection, can be startled by a set of those shining eyes.

I was one of those unfortunate enough to be staring deep into a particularly dark pair of eyes, belonging to a pretty girl wearing a pink shirt under denim overalls. I would say she looked childish if she wasn't trying to kill me with a glare. I guess stepping uninvited into a ghoul's back alley snack area is a no no. I guess my parents forgot to teach me that in my youth.

I was about to speak in response to the ghoul clerk's previous comment when I was swiftly punched in the stomach and knocked back into the alley. I stumbled back a few steps into the alley where I was promptly tripped, falling hard onto the ground. I heard a rough scraping sound. I turned my head slightly and saw it was the corpse being shoved against a waste bin.

A brutal kick to my head landed, moving my prone body a few centimeters to the left. I moved as much as my now adrenaline fueled body could. I scrambled to the wall I was nearest to and did an about face to my attackers.

The door to the bookstore had been shut and the two ghouls in front of me were giving the deadliest of glares to my shaking form. I put my hands in front of my body and started to shout loudly at them.

"Wait, wait, wait!" I exclaimed. I pointed to my eyes, which had gone natural on account of my excited state, "We're all ghoul's here. We don't need to fight. "

The ghoul who had already been in the alley, a young man, responded to me, "So? You still invaded our living space. You wanna fight? We've got this place marked. See?" he pointed towards the wall adjacent to me. A close collection of large gashes were made in the building's wall in a semicircular pattern.

"How was I supposed to see that?!" I said thumbing toward the mark, "I was actually looking for one of these! If want someone to see this, you should have put it in a more easily seen spot," I was fast-talking frantically. I could hold my own in a one on one, but not two to one. I'd be trounced.

I could see the confused anger in their eyes. Here I was barging into their feeding, albeit unintentionally, and now I was yelling at them for defending themselves against an unknown entity. If I kept this up maybe I could confuse them enough to make them let me go.

"I really didn't mean to come back here! I was just taking a peak into the back. The door was open, so it's not entirely my fault. And looking behind it is just basic human curiosity!" I said defending my actions.

The male responded quickly, "You're not a human though. You're a ghoul."

"It's a figure of speech!" I yelled desperately. I think my confusion plan was working.

"SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU!" it was the girl. She pointed at me with a polished finger nail. "I don't care what you are," her voice was seething with anger, "You walk into our place of business, then barge into our off limits area, and finally interrupt my brother's meal.

She turned her head to her, just revealed, brother. "And you," she sighed angrily, "Don't argue with him. It's not helping." The brother looked like he wanted to defend his argument with myself, but a harsh glare quickly pushed down his opinion.

"Since you are also a ghoul I will not kill you," she was speaking to me again, "I will give you thirty seconds to leave our home. I, nor my brother, will harm you as you leave. However," she paused for a moment, "If I ever see you or your ugly track suit in my doors again I will not hesitate to end your sorry excuse for a life."

The rage in her eyes was almost palpable. It was like I was being scolded by one of my parents. Her voice and general demeanor did nothing but infuse my being with waves of contempt. Her young form did not betray her extremely old looking eyes and speech style.

I did not respond vocally to her demand. Instead I just vigorously nodded and hurriedly moved around the pair and out of the door. As I shut the door to the little alley I heard the brother of the siblings speak up.

"Your just gonna let him go! What if he" He stopped as a heard a loud smack. I guess his sister was the one in charge out of the two.

I moved swiftly through the mess of the store and walked back onto the main street. It had only been about half an hour since I had gone in there. That had been a little too close for my taste. I had assumed I might have to get into a fight if I was looking for territorial ghouls, but not to get attacked on the accidental discovery of a pair of book shop owning ghoul siblings. I'll admit you probably can't predict something that specific, but still. I thought I was going to have to throw down in an abandoned building or dingy basement, not in the back alley of a bookstore.

I sighed and looked into the air. The sun was high in the sky. It wasn't very late, but I felt like I had just run an all-day marathon. Calling it a day early wasn't a sin, so I trudged back to my apartment. It's not like I failed in my quest to see if any ghoul had territory, I just almost died while doing it.

It didn't take long to get back to my apartment. I walked up the stairs, this time not being interrupted by my neighbors. I unlocked my door and quickly relocked it behind me. I gave another loud sigh. Maybe I needed a partner. It was a hard thing to do with ghouls. Partnerships that is.

Besides relatives the only kind of group that would get made by ghouls were the ones made through force. The kind where the only reason they exist is because one ghoul kicked the shit out of another ghoul, and then they kicked the shit out of more ghouls, etc. etc. I didn't want that, and I didn't have any siblings near here. Or friends for that matter.

It might work though; it would also have a couple more benefits besides protection from other ghouls. Less money to pay for rent, that is if I could get them to room with me as well, and help with hunting for food.

I sat on the chair I had placed in the living area. I close my eyes and thought on the matter for a while.


	6. Wrapping

The woman struggled for a few moments after I grabbed her. She tried to claw at my face, but my hand on her throat was made that rather difficult. I watched her eyes looking at me. There was nothing but fear in them. No anger, no confusion, just pure primal fear. The ancient, reptile-like, part of her brain was doing all it could to survive. Regrettably, for her, she was unsuccessful. I harshly increased the pressure I had on her neck until I heard it snap.

I dropped her now limp body to the ground. I looked side to side to see if anyone had snuck up on me. The dirty alley I had drawn her toward was empty. The only company I had was a lone, plastic trash can.

Leading the woman to the alleyway wasn't very tough. I simply waited in a public area and scoped people out until I heard someone call another person by name. I saw a pair of college aged women talking while walking out of a store, and heard the name "Sachiko" said several times. It only took a minute to figure out which person was which.

The next part of the hunt consisted of me following them around and hoping they would eventually split up. I think they were finishing up a day on the town, because both of them were carrying quite a few bags and it didn't take any time at all for them to split apart.

The sun was setting quickly when I started the main process of my heart. I moved from alley to alley as I watched the woman walk through the occasional crowd of people, her face showing no signs of suspicion. When she took a corner down a particularly empty street I began my hunting calls.

I called out her name until I got her attention. I did my best to try and sound desperate enough to warrant someone coming to check out whatever was calling to them. She responded a few times, listening for a "Help" or some kind of continuance on my part so she had more of a reason to keep coming near me. I kept quiet though. If I did yell "Help", or anything other than her name, then I might run the risk of attracting another person. She moved shakily, but quickly, towards me. I led her down a few alley ways before stopping. I got lucky finding a person dumb enough to follow my voice. Half of the time they don't even start to look for the caller.

I'm surprised she didn't see me when she walked down the alley I was in. I wasn't really trying to hide; I was just standing with against a wall, with a little bit of my body in the shadows. I guess she had bad eye sight. I lurched out of the shadows and grabbed her by the neck.

This actually wasn't meant to be a normal hunting trip. I was going to use this woman as a backup meal just in case something irregular interrupted my schedule. I had scoped out this alley before deciding to use it as a hunting spot. There wasn't a lot of traffic from the main streets near it and it was also connected to a little alcove for garbage. It was a good spot to pick and choose what I wanted from the woman's meat.

I grabbed the bag I had placed in the trash bin a few feet away and began to pull out the tools I had brought. A large knife, a decent amount of butcher paper, a tape dispenser, and some plastic bags. I had to work fast with this. While I didn't think a good amount of people would be walking down this particular alley, I didn't want to risk some drunk or some delinquents interrupting my work.

I sampled the flesh before I even started to cut into her. I needed to see if the meat was even fit for consumption. Something that a lot of the researchers haven't realized about ghouls is that we can discern whether or not someone was ill by tasting some of their person. A quick bite into her arm told me that the woman was free from any diseases or poisons, so I could start.

I chopped and tore at the body until it was barely recognizable. I didn't want to take too much meat; I didn't want this stuff to spoil in my relatively small refrigerator. I took the parts of her that had the most muscle. The woman was in good shape. She didn't have much fat on her besides on her ass, and I tended to stay away from the nether regions when I ate.

I'd only ever watched someone do this before, my mother, so it took me a little longer than I would have liked, around twenty minutes. I wrapped the delicately sliced meats in the butcher paper, taped them up to keep it together, and then placed them into the plastic bags in case of leaking blood.

As I was wrapping up the last bit of the woman's thigh I heard an electronic tune come from behind me. After nearly shitting myself I turned to see what it was. Thankfully it was just the woman's cell phone; she must have dropped it when I attacked.

I picked up the phone and saw that she had received a message. The subject read, "Where R U?" and the main body read, "You okay? I thought you said you'd be back by 23:00." She must have someone to go home to. What a shame. It would probably one of the most traumatizing things this unknown person will probably experience. Seeing their friend or loved one torn to ribbons in a disgusting alley way. I wonder if they'll have trouble identifying the body. I didn't do much damage to the face. A little fracturing I suppose, but nothing serious.

I looked at the phones screen and replied to the person on the other end. "I'm fine. Just got a little lost. I'll be back soon." Hopefully that quelled their fears enough not to message again. After seeing the message had sent I crushed the phone under my foot. I figured they might be able to track it somehow. Dad said it was always better to be a little paranoid.

I placed the wrapped meat back into my bag. It was a lot heavier and bulkier than it was before. It might look a little suspicious if someone saw lugging around this cumbersome thing. A thought came to mind. The woman had shopping bags didn't she? I looked about for a second and saw three large paper bags about yard away from me. They were over turned and spilling some clothing onto the dirty concrete.

I moved over to them and looked inside. Mostly clothing, with a few accessories and make up thrown in as well. I moved around their contents and placed some of my food into the bags under the cloths. It alleviated the weight from my bag and back. Much easier to carry.

I picked up the bags and walked away from the carnage I had just made.

I wonder if the police will immediately jump to the "Ghoul" conclusion.


	7. Smoking

Sometimes I wonder if the universe likes watching me squirm. If it sees the terror in my eyes as I stumble into danger and uncomfortable situations over and over again. Maybe I'm cursed. Born on the wrong day of the wrong year during some kind of eldritch planetary alignment. Or maybe I'm just kind of unlucky and my neurosis is blowing this out of proportion.

I woke up the day after storing the woman's flesh in my refrigerator to the smell of smoke. I sprang out of bed and began looking for the possible fire. I was stumbling in the dark of my apartment, running into walls, doors, and the other fixtures of my home. I couldn't see any flames or smoke for that matter, although that might have been because of the darkness. I heard the smoke alarm go off soon after I bumped my head on my kitchen counter.

At that sound I decided to get out of the apartment. Even if the fire wasn't in my house I didn't want to be caught in the smoldering inferno the apartment complex might become. I shot like a light out of the door onto the fourth floor walk way. The sun was burning bright in the sky when I sprang from my doorway. It was probably mid to late afternoon.

I looked around and saw several of my fellow tenants on the walkway, leaving their apartments. I could hear them excitedly talking about what was going on as they rushed to the ground floor. I followed closely behind a couple on the stairs down, trying to hear anything on the smoke. They were just as confused as I was, so I hung back after a second of eavesdropping.

As I stepped onto the ground floor I noticed several of the other tenants looking in my direction and smiling. A few were pointing and chuckling. A mother put her hands over her child's eyes. Oh, I wasn't wearing any pants. I was only clad in my sleeping cloths, which consisted of a black t-shirt and my boxer shorts. It didn't help my boxers were the kind with large hearts all over it. They were a gift, for the record.

I felt the blood rush to my face. I blush like a tomato, so at least it was obvious they knew I knew. I shuffled to the back of the small crowd of tenants and tried to hide up against a wall. They didn't persist with making me look stupid and went back to worrying about their homes. I saw a man point at one of the rooms on the fifth floor of the building. Smoke was pouring from under the door.

A large, squat man was walking toward the room. It was the apartment manager. He was a gruff, little man. I've only ever spoken a few words to him, and they were always in regards to me paying my rent on time. His loud knock on the smoking door could be heard all the way on the ground. He knocked several times before I saw him fiddling with something in his left hand, most likely his key ring, and opened the door.

The manager disappeared inside the apartment for a few minutes. Everyone on the ground was silent as the manager checked the inside of the apartment. He exited the room with a thumbs up and call of "All clear!" A sigh of relief went through the group and myself. Didn't want to have to find a new home after only a little while in a new ward. I moved from my position on the wall to get back to my apartment. It was time for pants.

"Oh my," a feminine voice from behind me intoned, "What happened?"

I turned around and saw that it was the housewife that lived above me. Her daughter was with her, wearing what looked to be a kindergartener's uniform, looking bored.

"There was some smoke coming from that room up there," I pointed toward the smoking home above; hoping that she didn't notice my pantslessness.

A look of shock appeared on the woman's face. "Oh no!" she yelled, "Dinner!" She shot up the stairs like a rocket, leaving her child below with me. Her daughter and I looked at each other.

"You're not wearing pants," she said matter of factly.

"I know."


	8. Grinding

Being pantsless loses its charm after a while, so after a while of standing awkwardly next to the nonplussed girl I went back to my apartment. The embarrassment was still in my veins when I started to clean myself up. I wondered if the rest of the tenants were going to think I was some kind of pervert now. "Don't go near that room. That's where that guy who runs around without pants lives. If you get near it he'll flash you" I could hear it already.

Another fear seeped out of my mind. What if they start keeping a closer eye on me? Watching me from their windows when I leave the house. Seeing if I'm up to no good when I come home at the crack of dawn. Those paranoid mouth breathers will get me kicked out by the apartment manager. Or worse, call someone. The police or the CCG poking their noses around here could rile up more attention than I could handle.

Those two kids at the bookstore probably wouldn't like that. Did they have any sway over the power structure of this ward? Was there even a cohesive structure. Territory is a for sure factor here. Getting my head almost ripped off by those brats told me that. I wondered if the rest of the ghouls in this ward were just as territorial. I would need to do more research in to this.

If I was going to make this ward my home I was going to have to meet more of my neighbors. Looking over my shoulder for malcontents and checking every street corner for a marker every day didn't seem like the most fulfilling existence.

I put on my normal cloths and walked out onto the, now empty, courtyard. I wondered if that kid ever got home. Didn't matter; I needed to find more ghouls in the area. Those kids trying to beat me to a pulp held of my search for a day or two, but I needed to get back to it. One bad experience wasn't going to get me to quit looking for some kind of cooperation in this ward.

The street next to my apartment was fairly busy as I stepped onto its sidewalk. It was the time of day when school kids were getting out from their lessons. Sometimes I missed going to school. There was a monotonous joy in waking up every morning to get talked at by some patronizing human. A group of students passed by me as I remembered my school days.

An average group of guys and girls, all giggling and squawking about cram school and food. Their high voices rang in my head like a bell. Did I sound like that in school? Was I that annoying? I listened closely to their conversation as they passed by. I doubted they knew the inner working of local ghoul politics, but knowing a little bit about the local flavor could never hurt.

"What was the name of that song you were listening to early called, Sachi?" one of them asked in a high, nasally voice.

A girl with short hair held back by pink pins responded, "It's called "Veins" by that group "Grind"."

"Never heard of them. They new?"

"Pretty new. They're actually local," Sachi pulled out a piece of paper from her bag, "See?" Sachi handed the paper to her friend. After looking at it for a moment she gave the paper back.

"That flyer says that the band's playing tonight at that club, Night Break. You wanna try and get in? Might be fun. Even if they suck."

"Yeah I'm totally up for it. I was hoping someone would want to try and go. I really like these guys. I hear they're getting pretty popular. You think they'll check our ages?"

"I doubt it. The club's kinda seedy," the girl broke into laughter after that comment.

When her laughter subsided the rest of the group spoke up. I could hear them making plans to go the little concert tonight as they pulled ahead of me. I turned down a thin alley between two stores and stood against a wall. A concert with a semi popular band could be a good way to check for more ghouls. It could also be a way to scope out food. I may be set for a little while with all that meat in my refrigerator, but that won't last forever. I feel like it'll take a few more hunting trips to really get a feel for the game here, anyway.

I knew the club they were talking about. I had seen it when I moved into the ward. It was a little dingy place with a neon sign brightly displaying an arrow to a set of stairs. I had seen several young people going in and out of it a few nights earlier. It didn't look to be an exclusive venue, so I wouldn't have any problems getting in.

I pushed myself from my position and started for the club. I was going to have to get there early to get a good seat.

* * *

The club was filthy. It was also devoid of really any kind of furniture besides a few stools near the empty bar. For a club that seemed to be fairly popular they didn't seem to give a crap about how it looked. Maybe that was the appeal. "Come to our dirty rat den and listen to awful music while drinking the worst alcohol ever brewed!" I don't think I'd make the best advertiser.

Besides myself there were only a couple more people in the club. There was the band members. All of them looked like your typical heavy rock and or metal group that kids would listen to. Lots of black and piercings. Even if this hunt was a bust I hoped that these guys were at least mediocre at playing. I would not be a happy camper if they blew chunks.

There was also an older man standing next to the bar. He looked out of place with his button up shirt and slacks. I assumed he was the owner. I didn't think a man that dressed very much like my father would frequent a dive like this. Although to each his own.

As I pondered on the fashion sense of the man more people entered the club. They all looked like the band, young and dark. Most of them were smoking and I could see a few of them wobbling as they moved. Already drunk? I was going to have to prepare myself if the band was so bad that people had to get drunk before listening to them.

I decided now that a crowd was forming it would be a good time to search for any ghouls. All ghouls have stronger senses than humans and with our smell and a little concentration we can tell each other apart from humans. If I hadn't been an idiot the other day I probably could have sniffed out those kids at the bookstore. I might have been able to have a civil sit down with them. Might not had to get threatened with evisceration by a little girl.

I shoved down my previous humiliation and took a big whiff of the surrounding air. The atmosphere was stale and gagging. A combination of cigarette smoke and grime. I had to swallow the vomit that rose in my throat. I feel sick.

I lowered my nose and closed my eyes. My head was swimming with the fumes of the club. I probably shouldn't have tried to discern the aroma of ghoul from the stench of young people. I was about to try and search again when a sharp cry almost made me jump out of my skin.

I moved my head like an animal towards the sound. It was feedback from one of the band's speakers. The bad was shuffling around the stage and fiddling with their instruments. I supposed they were about to start. A man with a long fringe if hair covering half of his face came to the front of the stage.

"Hello everyone," he had a deep, raspy voice. It reminded me of sandpaper. I hoped with all my heart that he wasn't the singer.

"My name is Satoshi, he paused and went still. After a few seconds of silence everyone in the club seemed to tense up, including myself. Did he have a heart attack? Was this part of the act? Did he-

My thoughts were roughly cut off. Satoshi's voice rang out again.

"We. Are. GRIND!" and with his sudden cry the band began to play. I won't say what I heard that was music. It might have been some kind of awful mating cry. The gates of Hell being forced open. Whatever is was, it wasn't music. Maybe this was why they were called Grind. It certainly felt like my brain was being grinded down by a wet stone. That was made of broken glass.

I covered my ears to block out the evil sounds and looked around the rest of the club. To my surprise several of the people were rocking to and fro to the beat of the music. Maybe I was wrong? Perhaps this music was actually good and at the beginning of this "song", if you wanted to call it that, and I had some kind of stroke at the very moment they started. Probably not, they were most likely one of the foulest group of musicians to ever blight the concept of sound.

I had to get out of the club. If the smell made me gag than this sound made me want to die. I moved as quickly as possible through the crowd to find a door. I couldn't see the door I came through. More people had come here when I wasn't looking. I moved through the crowd like a blind man. The sound was interfering with the rest of my senses. I'm surprised I was able to stand.

I found the wall again and promptly fell into it. I may have had my life threatened the other day, but I would have gladly taken another go at those little shits than listen to this auditory torture any longer.

I turned my head, which I was grinding into the wall at the time, to the empty bar. I'm not sure how I saw it, but through my blurring vision I could see a door next to it. It was painted the same color as the wall, "No hope in the universe" black. I moved toward it. If there was any god in this world that he would make that door lead to a place where that sound could not reach me.

I moved across the wall toward the door. I had to elbow my way through a couple of club goers. I think they thought I was doing some kind of strange dance and didn't pay me any mind. To be honest though, if they had given me any lip I would have ripped their throats out right there.

My hands finally found the door. I fumbled for the handle, but my hands found nothing. My brain cried as I looked at the possibly broken door. I put my body against the door and felt it give a little. It just needed a little elbow grease to open, that's all. I put all of my weight onto the door. I could feel the door bend under my weight. Normally I wouldn't use my full strength in public, but I could feel an ear drum about to pop so I feel like it was justified. I shouldered the door open, which probably would have caused an extremely loud crash if not for the music.

The door gave way for my stumbling form, and I fell to the ground. I landed harshly on the concrete floor. I quickly turned around and shut the now bent door. Behind the door the sound from the other room was actually much quieter. I could think again. I breathed in and sighed with relief. The smell of smoke and booze was also lessened in the dark room. Another stench had taken its place however. It was a familiar one. The one I was looking for earlier.

Do you remember when I mentioned the universe liking to mess with me?

A voice called out, "Can I help you?"


	9. Listening

The smell in the room I had stumbled in hit me like a truck. A ghoul? In here? But I had checked. Was the smog those people produced that thick? So thick it could block the highly sensitive olfactory sense of a fully matured ghoul? I was going to have start practicing searching through clouds of miasma, like in the other room. But that would have to wait for another, less terrifying, time.

I heard the voice in the darkness once again. "Did you hear me? Can I help you?" The voice was deep and masculine. "Hold on a sec, let me turn on a light." A bright light pierced my eyes and revealed a small room. The light that illuminated the room in a greasy glow. Everything looked like it had never been cleaned. In the middle of the room was a tall man leaning up from a bed in the corner of the room.

He looked like he was in his early thirties. He was wearing cloths similar to mine, and looked like he hadn't shaved in a while. He also had piercing red irises and black sclera.

"There ya are!" he had a Kansai accent, "Sorry I like to keep it dark in here. My eyes are a little sensitive to light." He got up from the bed. He continued to speak.

"Don't worry bud I know what ya are. I could smell ya when ya came into the club."

I was flabbergasted. What was happening? This was more brain stretching than my encounter with those kids in the bookstore. At least they acted like a person might when someone bursts into their home. This guy though. "No I will greet this home invader with open arms" What was happening?

"I gotta say though it looks like you did a number on my door though," he said looking around me at the door behind me, "That's one of the only things that keeps that noise in the other room." He put his hand on my back and pushed me, softly from the door. "Jeeze, man! What'd you do, use your Kagune?! Looks like you broke the freakin handle."

He turned around from the door with a smile on his face.

"Don't worry about though. I can get it fixed. Here, sit down." He walked over to the side of the room and grabbed a folding chair. He set it up next to the bed and patted the seat. "Take a load off. You look kinda tired."

I shuffled a few feet and sat on the cold, metal chair. It was really awkward as he sat across from me on his bed. He looked at me with his natural eyes and started to squint.

"Wait. Hold on," he stopped and closed his eyes for a moment. He rubbed his eyelids and reopened his eyes, which were know a steely gray. "Sorry about that. I gotta turn the human on when it's too bright…. So how ya doing?"

"Uh….," I wasn't sure how to respond, "Um..,, I'm, ah, okay I guess."

"Really? Ya don't look it. It's the music, right?" he said pointing at the door, "I hate that shit too. I gotta pay the bills somehow though, so I rent this place out to these kids." His appearance momentarily shifted to one of annoyance before continuing, "Anyways, fuck those guys. You're new here right? To the ward I mean."

"Yeah."

"Thank god, I think the only other ghouls around here are those freaky teens. Those guys are no fun either. Nothing but closed lipped frowns and angry glares. I even tried to share food with them. They're still kids so I thought I could help out, ya know? But all I got was that little girly trying to skewer me. You met'em yet?"

"Yeah, I accidently walked in on a meal and almost got the same treatment," I responded, remembering the awful experience.

"Well that just aint right!" he said getting mad, "What's the matter with fucking kids these days?"

He was quite for a moment before starting back up. "Whatever, fuck them too," his voice simmering back to normal, "Listen man I've lived here for a long time, quite a few years. And I'm sure you know that people like us gotta stick together. Can't have ourselves getting killed from some dumbass move. So what'd do ya say?"

I looked at him confused, "Say to what?"

"To working together, of course! Come on, I know we just met and everything, but it's never too soon to make friends. Here," he held out his hand, "I'm Daichi."

I looked at his hand for a moment before taking his hand.

"Hibiki."


	10. Planning

Here is a key tip for newly on their own ghouls. If you try to keep your meat for later, treat it. It won't taste as good, and you're going to have to eat more of it to feel full, but it's necessary. Otherwise you'll be like myself when I was going home from meeting my new "best buddy".

My apartment manager was sitting on an old fold out chair in the middle of the courtyard. He was flipping through, what looked like, an idol magazine in rapt attention. His head shot up like a dog's at the sound of me opening the gate to the courtyard. He got up from his position and darted over to me.

"Mr. Nakai, I have something to speak with you with," he said to me urgently.

I was a little taken aback by his forcefulness, "Yeah sure, sir. What did you need?"

"Several of the other tenants have reported to me about a strange smell coming from your room."

My mind immediately went to the meat in my refrigerator. The meat must have gone bad. That was just great. I spent a lot of time making sure no one noticed the leaking drops that were coming through the bag as I walked through the apartment.

I thought I had gotten lucky with no one noticing the tiny blood stains. Guess I was wrong.

"Sir, I'm sorry. I think I the meat I bought the other day went bad. I'll get rid of it as soon as I can," I said trying to hide the anger in my voice "I hope it didn't bother anyone."

The apartment manager looked at me for a moment before nodding and replying, "Bad meat, eh? I had that problem myself just the other day? It wasn't too much was it?"

"Oh no. I saw it on sale the other day and I thought I'd be able to eat it all before it went bad."

He shook his head and smiled wryly. "Well that's good I suppose. Just make sure to get rid of it by tonight. I don't want to have any more complaints when I'm trying to sleep."

"Don't worry about it sir. It'll be gone.

I spent the rest of that day getting rid of that bad meat. I love the smell of human flesh just as much as the next ghoul, but rotted flesh is just disgusting. It's almost as bad as human food. It's actually kind of ironic, since my species is named after a monster that eats dead flesh from dug up graves.

I had douse the meat in some cleaning supplies before getting rid of it. People won't look at something that smells like ammonia and window cleaner for too long. I wrapped the soggy meats in a bundle of plastic bags and walked several streets over before throwing them into a dumpster. I don't want anyone finding that near my home. The CCG were getting better at the whole investigation thing from what I had learned from other ghouls.

I peeled off the pair of plastic gloves I had worn to transport the, now trashed, meat and threw them into the garbage can in my kitchen. I sighed and slid onto the floor next to my refrigerator. My stomach growled.

I hadn't gotten the chance to eat much of that meat. I don't like to eat all of my food at once if I can get away with it. My parents used to spoil me in that regard. We had a good access to food when I was younger and I didn't have to eat in large quantities, since it normally gave me a stomach ache. I knew I have treated that meat. It just didn't cross my mind. I guess I was too worried about meeting another ghoul in the ward before too much time passed.

Treated meats will provide substance to ghoul if enough of it is eaten. I'm guessing the state of decomposition got rid of the Rc cells in the flesh. I had the idea of eating it over a longer period of time in my head, but treating and salting the meat didn't really factor into my thought process.

I looked up at the ceiling and thought for a moment. I didn't want to go out hunting again so soon after the last one. Hunting too quickly in succession can draw too much attention to an area. And when that information gets to the right people a Dove or two is bound to show up.

I felt a buzzing in my pocket. What now. I dug my phone out of my pocket and looked at the screen. It read DAICHI in block capitol on the little screen. It had only been a little while since I had talked to the guy.

I opened the phone and spoke, "Hello?"

"Hey buddy!" I jumped a little at the volume of his voice.

"Hi Daichi. What did you need?" I said holding the phone away from my head.

"Oh who needs a reason to call a friend, right?! Nah I'm just kidding! Listen, you interested in a little," his voice dropped, "Dinner, if you know what I mean?"

I smiled a little. Just when I think the universe hates me, it gives me something I can work with.

"Actually, yeah. I could go for something to eat," I said.

"Great, man! Listen, meet me by that shitty little convenient store by the park. I know a great spot. It'll be fun. Get their quick! Get me!?"

"Yeah," I said, "I get you." My smile grew. I knew branching out to other ghouls would help me out.


	11. Waiting

"Did you see that drama last night? You know? The one with the… uh…shit. What was it?" Daisuke was rambling as we walked down the street toward the park.

"Oh, I got it! The one with the business man and his family who are all dead. Did ya see that?"

"No I didn't. I don't watch a lot of television," I responded truthfully. I've never been into modern entertainment.

"Man, it was so great! So this guy is like your standard dude right. And he gets home from work one day, and his whole family's fuckin dead!" Daisuke continued as we walked along.

I'm glad he could keep up a conversation on his own. I liked the guy, but I was still a little wary of him. I've always found people this friendly a little off putting. My parents taught me that while normal ghouls had friends and families, they were still wary of strangers. Daisuke was different.

I'm not sure if he was just starved for companionship, or if he just liked the sound of his own voice. Nothing but chatter since I met the guy. Even when I was walking to the convenience store he sent five messages to my phone asking where I was.

"So then the guy pulls a gun out of his briefcase, right! And then he points it at- Wait! We're here," Daisuke got quite as we walked into a small park on the right side of the street.

It was a nice little park. A few benches on the side of the walkway. A tiny playground, where a few children were playing in, on the right. The sunset covered the area in a nice golden glow. Daisuke let me to an empty bench near the middle of the park and sat down. He patted the seat next to him.

"Take a load off, man," Daisuke said, "We're gonna have to wait a bit.

"For what?" I asked as I sat down.

"For the grub dude!" he exclaimed, throwing out his arms, "Don't be impatient, man. Just take a seat and relax." With that he leaned back into the bench and stretched out. He closed his already half lidded eyes and seemed to drift off into a light slumber.

I guess he liked to watch and wait. Kind of like me in that regard. It's a lot easier to hunt if you can watch your target for a little while. Just enough to see if they'll put up a fight. Or to see if their alone. Can't go attacking someone if someone nearby is going to come looking for them. That's just bad form.

Daisuke and I waited for a long while on that bench. I looked around in my normal fashion to see if anyone looked to be a good mark. It was mostly children running around with their parents. They were definitely off the market. Missing children, these days, cause too much hubbub for my liking. The CCG jump on missing children cases as soon as they break the news, and they'll comb the area clean until they find who ever or whatever took them. If a ghoul wants to hunt children they have to be very secretive or have some kind of cover. I remember a while back there was a story about a priest running a boy's home that turned out to be ghoul. I wonder if they ever killed him after they got him in their custody.

I saw a few potential candidates for game, but they left too quickly for anything to be done. Daisuke just dozed during my search. I hoped he had some kind of plan. Maybe he thought that if he waited long enough food would just fall out of the sky into his lap.

The only thing he did while we "waited" was hum a nonsensical tune and drum his leg against the other. The only time his eyes opened was when I tried to follow some dumb looking high school kid, but he stopped me with a "Just hold on. It'll be fine." And then went back to his little song with his eyes closed. I was surprised by how quiet he was during our sit down. Nothing blabbering on about nothing since I met the guy and then stone silence. Was that his serious mode? I guess this is just how he was when he hunted.

The sun went down after that. The night took hold of the park. The moon shined brightly overhead. We waited another, agonizing, hour before he spoke again.

"Here we go, buddy," he said, "Right on time."

"What?"

I looked around the park and saw that all of the normal folk had left. In their place was a group of older looking teens dressed in baggy clothing. Street toughs by the look of them. It was a smaller group; four of them in total. All of them were hanging around the playground equipment drinking and smoking without a care in the world. They didn't seem to care that we were watching them lay about like a bunch of bums.

"Okay. I'm gonna go get things started. You stay back and make sure everything's goin good before things get hectic," Daisuke said getting up from the bench. He sauntered over to the group of teens and loudly spoke to them.

"Good evenin, gentlemen! Y'all havin a good time?"

The teens casual smiles died as Daisuke spoke to them. They all glared at the intruder to their gathering.

The oldest looking of the group spoke for them, "What do you want? You from one of those parent's groups? We can hang out where ever we want, man. So get lost."

"Calm down, bud," Daisuke said, putting his hands up, "I was just wonderin if you all were doing good. It's not safe after dark anymore, these days. With those ghouls walkin about."

"Well thanks, I guess," the same teen said, "We aint got nothing to worry about though. We could take out any of those freaks. Right guys?!"

A sounding "Yeah!" came from the other three in the group. At this point I could see where Daisuke was going. I got up from my seat and walked around to the other side of the park. Daisuke helped masked my movements with more of his chatter. I crept up behind a bush near the jungle gym the teens were sitting on.

"Oh really?" Daisuke said. Not sounding impressed. "I don't know, man. Ya really think you could take one? I heard they could take out three grown man without even tryin."

The lead teen gave a scoff and continued, "We're the toughest guys around here. There aint nobody who would mess with us. Not even one of those fuckin monsters." The teen pulled something from his pocket.

"See," he said flicking out a knife, "Even if they did. I'd just slice'em up." He gave a few swipes into the air.

Daisuke put up his hands. "Whoa, dude! Jeeze! I guess you're all set then."

"Damn straight."

"Well that's good. I don't feel bad about doing this then."

A sharp movement went between Daisuke and the teen. A long, thin spike was sticking out of the boy's neck. The spike was connected to a spiny tail coming out from between Daisuke's legs. I saw that Daisuke's eyes had gone red.

"What the fuck," one of the other's yelled, "Tatsumi! Oh my God! I'm getting the fuck out of h-!" I cut him off there with a swift punch to the throat. Didn't want anyone hearing these kids. It was late, but who knew who could show up.

I saw Daisuke's Kagune stab into another of the group. His Kagune was a subtle little weapon. He was a Bikaku type by the look of it. It was very thing and edged by almost undiscernibly small thorns. On the tip was a sharp, needle-like spike. He was quick with the thing too. He had punctured the second boy almost a dozen times in the blink of an eye.

I finished off the teen I had punched with a devastating blow to his skull. It cracked the skull like a ripe melon onto the pavement we were on. As I was getting up from my target I saw the last of the group running for his life out of the park.

"Take'em out buddy! I'm gonna clean up here!" Daisuke called to me.

I broke out into a sprint after the teen. Considering Daisuke had decided to show off his Kagune I would too. I wouldn't normally bring out my weapon, but since Daisuke had enough courage to show me I shouldn't hide mine away. Some ghouls are very self-conscious and secretive of their Kagune. Showing a relative stranger your Kagune was very odd.

I felt the blood through my spine and the flesh pierced out of my skin. It wrapped around my shoulder and around my arm, coming to an end when it fully encompassed my closed fist. I've always thought my Kagune looked like a misshapen boxing glove. It was covered in sharp bumps that varied in size and shapes.

I caught up to the boy quickly. I swung wildly at the boy and stretched out my Kagune. It struck him like a ton of bricks, and tumbled to the ground. Blood started pouring from his head. I jumped on top of him and gave two strikes with all of my strength to his head. It was almost like a pulp after the second hit.

"Damn dude! I think ya got'em," Daisuke had caught up with me. "Just move that guy into that bush over there. We don't need another body. Besides he looks kinda skinny anyways."

I withdrew my Kagune back into my body and began to drag the fresh corpse over to the bush. I noticed the extremely obvious blood trail into the bush as I adjusted the boys legs into the foliage.

"You sure leaving this thing around is a good idea?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, man," Daisuke responded with a wave of his hand, "It might look bad, but it's better not to fuss with it. We try movin it any farther and cause a bigger mess, what are we gonna do? Get me?"

I sighed, "Yeah, I get you."

I walked back to the carnage near the jungle gym with Daisuke. The leader of the gang was untouched, besides the small hole in the center of his neck. The other he killed looked like a pin cushion with all the holes in his head. Daisuke had moved the other I had killed over to the leader.

"You can have that one, and I'll take this one. We can split the other if we don't get our fill," Daisuke said pointing to the leader of the group.

"You sure? This one was your kill?"

"Don't worry about it. I like a little wear and tear in my meat," Daisuke said as he began devouring the boy I had killed.

I smirked and began to eat my meal.

I slept with a full stomach that night.


	12. Warning

I knew leaving those bodies behind was a bad idea. The day after Daisuke and I's hunt I saw a news report on television. It was a big affair. Several reporters, an innumerable amount of onlookers, and even a representative from the CCG. It wasn't a surprise that they immediately went to the ghoul theory. These days most murders were done by us.

"_Four dead bodies strewn about the park, mutilated beyond belief," _a female reporter intoned into the camera.

_"This tragedy was almost certainly to be blamed on a ghoul. We have a reprehensive from the local CCG branch office, Junko Hirano, here to help shed some light on this incident._

The camera panned to a young woman with long dark hair held in a braid wearing an indigo blue suit.

_"Before we begin I wish to express my condolences to the loved ones of the lives lost," _her voice was very low, and relatively masculine. _"We will find the monsters that did this to them. They will not slink back to whatever hole they crawled out of. They will pay."_

She and the reporter held their heads down for a moment before continuing with the report.

_"Is there anything you can tell us about this incident?"_ the reporter asked.

_"Unfortunately I cannot divulge too much information at the moment. I don't want to reveal anything that the creatures might hear," _the officer said, _"What I can say however is that this was not the first attack that this area has seen lately."_

My blood went cold for a moment. My tracks were not as covered as I had assumed. They knew I was out and about, hunting.

_"This also was not done alone."_

_ "Wait there was more than one ghoul at this attack?" _the reporter interjected.

_"Yes. The wounds and marks left by the ghouls makes this quite obvious to the trained eye. The kind of damage done to the victims is very distinctive. The markings couldn't have been made by one ghoul. All ghouls have a very particular way of hunting, and the damage done is too varied for just one ghoul to have done it."_

My mind was racing at the woman's words. We had been too sloppy. From what this

woman was saying, we had basically drawn a line straight back to where we lived. We should have been more careful. Been more subtle with our hunt.

I was never that brazen when I hunted. Why had I done that? Was it to impress Daisuke? No, that wasn't it. I've never been one to try and impress people. Had I gone delusional from hunger? Did I just become an idiot for one night?!

I heard something rip. I looked down to see I had accidently ripped up some of the fake leather from the chair. I needed to calm down. I could feel a nervous breakdown on the rise.

_"If you have any information regarding this incident or see any suspicious people near your homes please call the CCG at-," _I turned off the television. I could go without a psychotic break.

I needed to see Daisuke. He might know how to deal with something like that. My family was always very careful when hunting. There had only been one incident with the CCG, and that had been resolved quickly. I don't want to know what my parents would say right now. They taught me better than this.

I grabbed my hat and walked out the door. I held my head down as I walked down the stairs to the courtyard. The sun was still rising high as I stepped down; it was still fairly early in the day. No one was out and about around their apartments. The other tenants were either at school or work; I could leave the property without anyone seeing me. If anyone saw me they might mention it to someone else. And they'll mention that to another. And then another. Humans talked too much for my taste.

Another assuredly awful band was setting up in Daisuke's basement club when I arrived. They looked to be even more hardcore than Grind. I hoped that I could get this talk over before they started their set, or any kind of practice. I don't think I could handle it.

I brushed past a young man with a bright green mohawk and several piercings to get to Daisuke's room. I've never liked piercings. Too dirty. The idea of having a piece of metal just hanging there, exposing my flesh to the outside world and the germs that lived in it.

I knocked on the dented door to Daisuke's room. After a moment I heard some rustling from behind the door. I heard a click and saw the door shift slightly and then open with a creak. I saw Daisuke's grizzled face behind the door.

"Sup, man. What're you doin here? Still hungry?"

"Not exactly. We need to talk."

He looked confused, "About what? You breakin up with me or somthin?" He chuckled at his own joke.

I sighed, "Just let me in."

"Alright, alright. Come on in." He opened the rest the door and let me into his darkly lit room. He shut the door and locked it with a large padlock.

"Okay, bud. Whatcha need?"

"The CCG know about our hunt last night," I said as seriously as possible.

Daisuke looked at me for a moment. He smiled at me. "So?" he said matter-of-factly.

My mouth opened agape, "Wh- What do you mean, so?! They know, Daisuke. The have the bodies. They already know it was a ghoul, and that there was two of us!"

Daisuke moved over to me quickly and put his finger over his lips.

"Shh! Dude, come on. If you're so worried, don't yell about what happened. Someone might hear ya." he said as he pointed at the door to the clubroom.

I shut my mouth.

"You just need to calm down man," Daisuke said softly, "Believe me. It's no big deal. The CCG gotta hundred cases just like this one. They'll just put some scrub on the case and that'll be it."

"But, but it was on the news."

"Don't mean shit, bro. They have to do that every now and again so people don't through a fit."

"They put out like a bulletin or something for people look for suspicious people."

"Okay one, no one ever reports to those. Especially around here. Two, are you suspicious?"

"Well no, but-."

"But nothing, dude. We're good. Do not worry about it. I've lived hear a while, man, and nothing ever happens with the CCG-."

A loud knock sounded on Daisuke's door.

"Hold up a sec! God, I hate these freaks. Nothing but shit from'em.

Another knock crashed against the door.

"What?! Goddammit!" Daisuke opened the door roughly.

Revealing the female ghoul from the bookstore.

"We need to talk. Now."

I guess I was worrying about the wrong people.


End file.
